Diaspora Star | Osaremen Fortune Okolo : A Presidential Scholar

Born in Massachusetts to Nigerian immigrants from Edo State, Osaremen Fortune Okolo is a product of grace, grit, and generations of hope. Her parents’ decade-long battle with unexplained infertility before her birth instilled in her a deep understanding of the power of perseverance and purpose. That understanding has fueled her journey as a scholar, public servant, and changemaker.

Osaremen began her academic journey at Milton Academy, where she graduated in 2013. There, her intellect, leadership, and passion for social equity flourished laying the foundation for her future. In 2022, she made history as the youngest-ever member of Milton’s Board of Trustees, a testament to her ongoing commitment to education and community service.

She went on to Harvard College, where she graduated with high honors in History of Science and African and African American Studies, and completed a secondary concentration in Global Health and Health Policy. Her undergraduate years were marked by rigorous interdisciplinary inquiry, combining science, history, public health, and race studies to confront some of the most persistent inequities in American society.

Her senior thesis, titled “Blackened Fertility: The Lasting Discourse of African American Female Reproduction After the Civil Rights Movement,” was a 30,000-word landmark study that explored how harmful stereotypes about Black women’s reproductive lives have shaped medical discourse and policy.

The work was advised by esteemed historian Professor Evelynn Hammonds and received major academic recognition. Osaremen argued that the legacy of narratives casting Black women as hyper-sexual and hyper-fertile continues to distort public health responses and policies to this day.

Osaremen’s research didn’t remain in the academic sphere it became the foundation for real-world policy influence. Her unique lens on health equity propelled her into the heart of U.S. governance, where she has worked on both the Senate HELP Committee and in the House of Representatives, translating scholarship into strategy. She was a critical player in the Biden-Harris Transition Team, and now serves in the White House Office of the COVID-19 Response, advancing policies that center equity in public health.

Now a PhD candidate in the History of Science at Harvard and a Presidential Scholar, Osaremen is building a bold new body of scholarship. Her doctoral research continues to examine the cultural, political, and historical structures that underpin racial health disparities in America. Through her work, she is not only rewriting history but actively shaping the future charting a path toward inclusive, just healthcare systems that serve all communities.

Whether in the halls of Harvard or the heart of the White House, Osaremen Fortune Okolo carries her Nigerian roots and diasporic identity with pride. Her life’s work is guided by a single, powerful question: What does it mean to care? In answering it, she’s redefining what service, scholarship, and leadership look like for a new generation.